Want to build a desktop

Thanks a BIG help, and hopefully on my way to start. It's something I've always wanted to and at 67, you are more cautious and hopefullyit will be cheaper and I would like to use it for Flightsims + normal stuff

petetocrete I was just a few years younger than you when I built my first machine and now I wouldn't even think of buying one ready made. I doubt if it will be cheaper, remember the box shifters buy their components in bulk whereas you and I get the 1 off price. BUT you will have fun, you will have a few heart stopping moments, you will learn a lot (maybe some new swear words as well), but when it is all up and running you will have a great feeling of pride at your accomplishment. Good luck and please come back to the forum if you hit any problems, need some advice on component compatibility and eventually to let us know how you got on. None of us are too old to learn.

As with*chub_tor, * I am a few years younger than you and apart from my first PC have aways built my own. I really enjoy the whole process, from selecting compatible components, I spend a lot of time on this,to putting it all together.

Yes you will have problems but solving them is part of the learning curve.Know what you want the main purpose of the PC to be,be it gaming or video/photo editing or just simply a own built home PC as this will have a big bearing on the components you will need to buy.

As has been said it might not mean that you can build one cheaper,which you could a few years ago, but you will get a PC you want, be able to upgrade it reasonably simply as you will know exactly what is inside the case. All to often you see on forums people trying to find out something about their motherboard but as it is usually an OEM made for the PC manufacturer there is little info and even less support.

So take your time in choosing your components,post here with the list if you want a second opinion but most of all enjoy.

Thanks alot guys, I'm ex UK, but now live on Crete,Greece as my wife's asthma much better here.
It would be much more exspensive to purchase parts here, so will sorce them from UK (or would the USA) be better ? But would have to pay input duty from the States,I think.
I've looked at "Custom PC" magazine alot over the years and I thought I would use there reviews and hopefully they will all work together ?
Any thoughts re : AMD or Intel please, and I would like to use it for M/S flight sim (be an aviation fan)

Great magazine by the way,my first port of call for component reviews. I would suggest going the Intel route,(SandyBridge) with an i5 2500K and a P8P67 motherboard with 8GB of Ram a decent graphics card, maybe a SSD for your boot drive and and 500GB/1TB secondary.Then there is the case,quiet with good cooling,an optical drive, good PSU and of course Windows 7 64BIT. With flight sims I believe either the biggest screen you can afford or a triple monitor set up is the way to go. But it all depends, of course, on your budget